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11/04/2024 03:00 PMNORTH HAVEN
At the Economic Development Breakfast event held in October, North Haven First Selectman Mike Freda informed town officials and business stakeholders about the various successes which have been achieved in that arena during recent years. In his speech, Freda mentioned the major achievement of bringing into town the multinational energy company Schneider Electric, which recently moved into a now-renovated factory on 90 Dodge Avenue.
This development brings a highly lauded business into North Haven, as French-based company Schneider Electric was named by Time magazine as the “World’s Most Sustainable Company” of 2024.
From an economic development standpoint, the introduction of a company like Schneider Electric and its facility in North Haven can help fill in spots in underdeveloped zones in town, specifically an industrial business park in this case. Freda said that he has a “relentless approach” in regard to this strategy.
“I look at different sectors where there's vacancies and how we can fill these vacancies or how we can attract companies to purchase land and build buildings,” he said.
Freda added that companies like Schneider Electric and similar industries can fulfill the “critically important” factor of job creation, especially in sectors of the economy which need more buildup.
“People like to see more glamorous economic development—new grocery stores, new department stores—and all of those are very important. We’ve done a lot of that in North Haven,” Freda told The Courier. “But sometimes the addition of these types of industries like this are also critically important to a community because there's job creation, and they're providing reliable services to the end users.”
Those corresponding types of services provided by Schneider are “finding solutions to help companies modernize” their systems through digitization, said Thomas Eck, the company’s media relations manager.
Eck confirmed that the 90,000-square foot facility at 90 Dodge Avenue will employ more than half of Schneider’s Connecticut-based workforce and “is going to allow them to expand their operations and be more productive,” compared to its previous facility in Connecticut.
Megan Schlam, the director of operations at Schneider, said that the retrofitting of the existing facility at 90 Dodge Avenue provided an adequate space to meet the company’s “sustainability and circularity story,” which revolves around helping customers “modernize or retrofit their old electrical gear,” and be kept as part of its existing infrastructure.
“It was close enough to our old location, as well, where we were able to support all of our employees,” added Schlam.
Schlam also said that Schneider’s employee presence in North Haven provides a chance to “get more involved with opportunities in the local community and understanding what opportunities there are for us to support, as well,” including the support of local restaurants and engagement with residents.
According to Schlam, the facility on Dodge Avenue is a fully electric “green building” and contains a diversity of workspaces. It includes a demonstration room which houses geared solutions for modernization for customers to see and “spark ideas for how it could work in their facility,” said Schlam.
Systems which may be showcased at the facility are load centers, circuit breakers, and contactors and protection relays, among others.
Other parts of the facility include employee training areas, collaborative workstations, and an onsite microgrid intended to maximize energy resiliency.
Freda told The Courier that it’s an “honor” that a “global industrial technology leader” with over a million partners in 100 countries has chosen to operate one of its facilities in North Haven, especially in consideration of the rising energy costs across Connecticut. This is something which Freda recognizes as a “hot topic,” and he believes that its impact on state residents can be supported and streamlined in a positive way through the presence of Schneider Electric in town.
“This provides a mechanism to help businesses put sophisticated systems in that aren't wasting energy,” he said. “I think that’s very important in a volatile environment of energy costs, which have risen, to have systems in place that minimize waste in energy consumption.”
The provision of a location in North Haven for a company like Schneider marks another step in Freda’s goal of introducing new businesses to a variety of economic sectors in town.
“I want a mix of all of these, whether they be restaurants, stores, businesses, or industries,” he said.